Presented by Opera Otago, directed by Terry MacTavish and featuring the music of Anthony Ritchie and the poetry of Hone Tuwhare and Cilla McQueen, The Trapeze Artists will be staged at Hanover Hall this Sunday at 2pm, and Monday-Tuesday at 6pm.
The show is a Dunedin Fringe Festival event.
Stirred by the lyrical and edgy poems of McQueen and Tuwhare, Petherbridge commissioned Ritchie to write this 45-minute mini-opera in 1996.
Now, nearly 30 years later, MacTavish recreates the work of Petherbridge, while Ritchie’s music is interpreted by Sanaz Rezai and Lloyd Williams.
The cast features a trio of Dunedin singers in Tessa Romano, Cathy Highton-Sim and Kieran Kelly.
MacTavish said the chamber opera created by Petherbridge and Ritchie was "mesmerising in its mysterious metaphor and crazy humour".
"As Louise said, we are all like trapeze artists, swinging dizzyingly into space in our search for love, trusting that our hands will lock with another's.
"Judy Bellingham and others in Opera Otago had never forgotten the magic of that performance, and asked Louise if she would recreate it for Fringe Festival, with myself as enthusiastic assistant.
"When Louise died suddenly, in January, it was a comfort if a challenge, that I knew she would have wanted me to carry on."
MacTavish said she was blessed with a "phenomenally talented" creative team and fabulous singers.
"Consequently all that is left for me is to ensure the staging does them justice, and in this I am supported by costume designer Charmian Smith, and the lovely architecture of Hanover Hall itself," she said.
"I have no doubt this revitalised Trapeze Artists will not only intrigue the audiences, but leave a lasting impression."
